Page 21 of Hunger in His Blood (Brides of the Kylorr #3)

CHAPTER 21

KALDUR

I ntentionally, I’d expanded the guest list for the dinner tonight. Before it had been a small, intimate affair with a handful of close family friends. Now I had Maudoric wringing her hands together as more and more people flowed through the doors of my keep. Nobles, shopkeepers, leaders of guilds and organizations for farmers, builders, tradesmen, and merchants.

The atrium was filled with guests already. Instead of a formal dinner, Maudoric had changed it so there were circular tables of food and drink spread out among main reception area and into the ballroom, which barely saw any use.

I would make it up to her later, I decided, but earlier I’d been brief and gruff with my orders. The whole keep knew my mood was foul these last two days, ever since I’d returned from Salaire…and ever since my night with Erina.

Who still hadn’t made her appearance.

Maudoric had ensured she had something suitable to wear for the evening. By now she would be able to hear the voices and laughter echoing throughout the entire keep. There had to be well over one hundred people here tonight.

Lydrasa arrived, on the arm of the son of House Braan. Ravar, I believed his name was, but the House of Braan had so many sons and daughters, I couldn’t be certain.

“Beautiful, as always,” I complimented her when the two of them reached me. I knew she hated clique remarks, and so I said it with a smile.

She quirked her brow, a flash of amusement stinging through her. Despite her companion standing stoically beside her, she leaned close to me. Into my ear, she said, “I’m here for one thing alone, Kyzaire . To see the little human who’s got you in knots.”

The sound that fell from my throat was gruff. “You’ll be disappointed, then, because she hasn’t come down.”

“I should warn you,” Lydrasa said. “Word has spread of her. Apparently you were seen with her in the village market? The news is raging through the Houses.”

“I’d noticed,” I said. I’d felt dozens and dozens of eyes on me already, making my skin crawl. It had been inevitable—I’d always known that—but what worried me was what exactly had been spread.

I didn’t want my brothers or Kalia discovering I’d found my blood mate through rumor. I wanted to tell them myself when I’d had more time to figure out what to do about it.

A rippling, small hush went through the atrium. I felt it like a pulse of energy, brief and startling, before the noise rose again.

When I turned, I saw Erina coming down the staircase, Maudoric a few steps behind her. She’d gone to retrieve her, then, also noticing her absence.

“Ah,” Lydrasa said, her voice utterly amused, and it set my teeth on edge. “And there she is.”

Erina looked beautiful. The dress I’d sent for in the village was simple in its elegance. An indigo blue—which reminded me of starwood blooms—that contrasted beautifully against her skin and dark red hair. The material was from a bolt of Salairian silk, prized apparently among the nobles, and it skimmed over her figure like a stream of water. She wore no jewels. Not that I’d given her any, but she also didn’t need them.

She turned everyone’s head—at least those who still lingered in the atrium. And she looked miserable.

Everyone would know who she was now. Not only was she arriving from within the keep, but I heard the whispers when I went to her, to meet her at the base of the stairs when she alighted.

Her gaze flicked up to me before it lowered again. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, the top half pinned back, though a few loose tendrils framed her rounded face.

I hadn’t seen her since that night.

I’d be lying if I said that the thought of seeing her again hadn’t made me nervous. Nervous. I’d nearly forgotten what that emotion was like, and I hated it. The gnawing, the atrocious ache.

“ Kyzaire, ” she greeted softly.

It was abundantly clear she didn’t want to be here. But the longer I kept her tucked away, the more the nobles would talk, creating stories in their heads. And I didn’t need any more speculation than there was already.

I should tell her that she looked…magnificent. Simply beautiful and lovely. She might not have been the most aesthetically beautiful female in attendance tonight—yet I only wanted to keep my gaze on her.

And she couldn’t even look me in the eye.

I’d felt like the worst kind of villain these last two days, but I’d needed to center myself again. That stormy night in my rooms…I’d thought of little else, when I didn’t need to be distracted right now.

That night had been dismantling. I’d felt torn apart, shredded to bits, and all I’d wanted was to beg for her to do it again.

Sex with a kyrana ?

My brothers were fucking bastards because yet again, they hadn’t prepared me for the sheer destruction of it. Destruction so I would be made new again.

Everything in me ached to steal her away. To feel everything that night again. Erina would never know how close I’d come, on a hundred occasions, to slipping into her rooms. Of taking her into my arms and begging her to make me lose myself again.

“Are you well?” I asked, the silence stretching between us. My question felt stilted and awkward, two other sensations I rarely felt. I didn’t like this. This uncertain turmoil building in my chest.

“Yes, quite well,” she answered. I waited for her small, shy smile or the brightening of her cheeks, but still, she avoided my eyes…and she said nothing else.

I deserve that, I thought, dread pressing against my chest hard. I’d left her that night and hadn’t come to her since. Of course she would feel hurt, her ego bruised.

I had to be careful how I interacted with her tonight. With all the eyes of Vyaan watching, I’d wanted to make something clear to them: Erina Denoren was my blood giver only. That she would get the respect from me that her position demanded, but mostly I wanted to stop the loose, wagging tongues.

She would have received her first payment by now. I’d had Maudoric deposit the sum, in accordance with our contract, yesterday. I had hoped it would help dampen her ire toward me, but I might have miscalculated.

“You look very beautiful, Erina,” I said, my shoulders lowering softly as defeat went through me.

The quiet, hushed words made her breath hitch. She darted a surprised look up at me, and when those brown eyes pinned to mine, I felt relief spreading through me. Like the burn of liquor, welcome and warm.

Then she cleared her throat and said, “Thank you, Kyzaire .”

Her eyes lowered again.

“How long would you like me to stay?” she asked next .

My lips pressed. She looked like she was walking into a den of lyvins .

“I thought you might enjoy a gathering like this,” I told her. She said nothing. “When others leave, so can you. It would look strange if you disappeared early.”

“I don’t think anyone would mind,” she answered, “but I’ll do what you say.”

I couldn’t stand the hollowness in her voice. “Erina,” I said quietly, stepping close so others wouldn’t overhear.

Her scent grew almost overwhelming, and I realized…

A lashing of anger whipped through me.

“Are you wearing that perfume?”

The one from her lover . Luc. Something lodged into place in my chest, a boulder that made it difficult to breathe.

“I thought I told you not to wear it again.”

“It’s just a little tonight,” she answered, frowning. “I made sure I didn’t put on too much.”

The scent made my stomach roil because I knew what it meant . I knew who she’d been thinking of as she’d dabbed it on, and I couldn’t stand it.

Erina didn’t know how much I knew. She might think me a fool. She might think she could flaunt her lover’s gift right in front of me. Did she find it humorous? Her own small joke?

It was on the tip of my tongue to order her to wash it off. I wouldn’t be able to stand the merest whiff of it.

Then I realized it didn’t matter. The purpose of this event was to have Erina here but to show my indifference. If I had her wash her skin off—if it made me crazed to want to stake my possessive claim on her in a jealous rage—it would turn my plan on its head.

“Very well,” I grated. “Like I said, you can leave when others do. Until then, I expect you to be in attendance.”

Maudoric was still lingering on the stairs behind her. I met her gaze, her expression impassive.

“Enjoy your evening,” I told Erina .

“You won’t—you won’t be with me?” she asked suddenly, confusion lacing her tone.

“No,” I added. “You’re not my wife. You’re my blood giver. I trust you can understand the difference.”

I walked away, anger and seething jealousy still burning in my chest. I felt out of control. Nothing was normal anymore. I didn’t recognize who I’d become. To lose my mind over a female ? To want to rip her lover to shreds in a berserker rage so she would have no choice but to remain at my side?

It was insanity. I loathed her for it.

When I passed Lydrasa on my way into the ballroom, she smirked, her eyes straying from Erina. “What a cute little thing. Isn’t she that keeper who walked in on us fucking?”

The son of House Braan cleared his throat, his wings giving a small twitch.

Lydrasa smiled. “Yes, I think it is.”

“I’ll find you later,” I told her, my growl a promise.

Her eyes were delighted. “I’ll look forward to it, Kyzaire .”